Johnson Rolls to 200 Victory

Michael Johnson of the United States dominated the 200 meters Tuesday night at track and field’s World Championships in Tokyo as no one has in a major competition since Jesse Owens in 1936, and if Johnson had not been running into a 3.4 meters-per-second head wind, he might have set a world record.

His time of 20.01 seconds was the fastest in the world this year and a meet record, but the most impressive statistic from the race was his margin over runner-up Frankie Fredericks of Namibia and Brigham Young, whose time was 20.34. Canada’s Atlee Mahorn, formerly of the University of California, was third in 20.49.

Retaining his title in the 800 meters with a time of 1:43.99 was Billy Konchellah, who won four years ago at Rome and then virtually disappeared from the international scene because of complications created by asthma.

Konchellah, who spent his final year of high school in Mission Viejo and had lived off and on in the Southland ever since, recently moved to Albuquerque, N.M.

“I was fooling myself to stay in Los Angeles,” Konchellah, 29, said. “I needed to move some place where the air is clean.”

Allergic to dust, Konchellah doesn’t allow shoes to be worn in his house, which is one reason he said he feels comfortable in Tokyo.